Court ruling hasn't stopped all Michigan pot shops

ADVANCE FOR MONDAY, JAN. 9- In a photo shot on Jan. 5, 2012, Meme's Green Dream business is seen in in Burton, Mich. The Michigan appeals court four months ago said it's illegal for shops to sell medical marijuana. But in some parts of the state, the trade hasn't stopped. "It's really not one of my priorities," says the prosecutor here in Genesee County. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

BURTON, Mich. (AP) -- A huge sign tries to lure customers to Meme's Green Dream. Around the corner, there's Big Daddy's, another marijuana dispensary for people with chronic pain or other health woes. A third shop, The Barn, is less than a mile away here in Genesee County, promising high-quality pot that will deliver "giggle fits."

The Michigan appeals court four months ago said it's illegal for shops to broker the sale of marijuana, the most significant legal decision since 63 percent of voters approved marijuana for medicinal use in 2008. But the trade hasn't stopped everywhere. Instead, it seems to have flourished in some pockets of the state, thanks to defiant owners and law-enforcement officials with a hands-off approach.

"It's really not one of my priorities, not to mention that I don't have any complaints from police," said David Leyton, the Flint-based prosecutor in Genesee County. "With the crime rate I deal with -- the violence, the murders, the carjackings, the armed robberies -- our plate is full."

Indeed, weedmaps.com lists at least a dozen dispensaries in Genesee County, including four in Burton, about an hour north of Detroit. Some still are operating in the Detroit area, Ann Arbor, and even Adrian in southeastern Michigan. Authorities elsewhere have been aggressive. Oakland County has shut down at least eight dispensaries, and police in northern Michigan recently seized cash and marijuana from three so-called collectives in the Traverse City area.

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The result: A statewide court ruling that was supposed to provide clarity to a vague law has simply become a tool of discretion, depending on where you live.

"It was heralded as the death knell for all dispensaries. Well, it wasn't," said Rick Thompson, a spokesman for Big Daddy's in Burton, Detroit, Sandusky and Macomb County's Chesterfield Township. "We have loved ones who are ill, and we believe in what we're doing. We have to fight for these things while we're still healthy. If we're too sick, it may become too late."

Even lawyers who specialize in medical-marijuana issues are surprised.

"They're obviously getting bad advice," attorney Jesse Williams said of dispensaries. "Anybody that's open in Michigan will at some point be raided. ... I don't see the judiciary allowing any type of model to work in Michigan."

Matt Abel, a lawyer whose firm is called "Cannabis Counsel," tells people to be "smart -- and lucky."

"The only way you're going to exist as a dispensary is by the graces of the local authority," Abel said. "It's not a safe thing. The people who are more of a cowboy are sticking their necks out and doing it."

One of the problems with Michigan's voter-approved law is that it doesn't say where 131,300 people with state-issued cards can get marijuana. The law says they can possess up to 2.5 ounces of "usable" pot and keep up to 12 plants in a locked place. A registered caregiver also can grow marijuana for five people.

In mid-Michigan's Isabella County, a dispensary was allowing patients to sell marijuana to other patients, with the shop collecting thousands of dollars in commissions. The appeals court in August said it was clearly illegal and agreed that Compassionate Apothecary could be shut down as a "public nuisance." The Michigan Supreme Court is considering whether to take the case.

"The law was passed for compassion. It wasn't passed for profit," said Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper, who believes aggressive enforcement has eliminated dispensaries in her county, Michigan's second-largest.

Since the court decision, Attorney General Bill Schuette has sent staff across the state to advise authorities about how they, too, can crack down in their communities. The handouts included a model of an 11-page lawsuit with blank spaces for local names and other vital information.

"Those that continue to operate do so at their own peril," Schuette told The Associated Press.

But what about indifference by some local authorities? "I understand the demands on local law enforcement. I'll leave it at that," the attorney general said.

Most dispensaries contacted by the AP declined to explain how they do business or why they believe they can get around the appeals court decision. At Big Daddy's in Burton, a sign on the wall says "donations only." At The Barn, visitors have to be buzzed in to open the front door and then pass through a metal detector to get through a second door.

In Ann Arbor, Chuck Ream, president of Arborside, said members who have medical-marijuana cards get pot from other members, around $15 a gram and up to $450 an ounce.

"Obviously people give up money to get product, and the grower gets money when they bring their medicine. But it's all donations," Ream said. "There's got to be a way for people to get the medicine, or the whole (law) is a sham."

Richard Celmer, 48, of Chesterfield Township said he uses marijuana to stimulate his appetite, which is suppressed from medicine for a bad back, bone spurs and bipolar disorder. He has a caregiver who grows pot for him, but he also likes dispensaries.

"I smoke and hang out with people," Celmer said. "You're in a safe environment. It keeps people from going to the street."